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My goal in this challenge is to get through January with ninja-like honor. Wait... ninjas were rogue spies and assassins without honor whatsoever, weren't they? They were cool though, and kicked butt. Can't argue that. The Cloak of the Chameleon The most important thing I can do to stay healthy is eat right. To that end, I'm going to maintain my food log (which has a mysterious gap from Christmas Eve to yesterday...let's not think about it) and continue to keep my saturated fat and carbs to within reasonable daily limits: 20g and 200g, respectively. Despite my plans, I have not yet gotten my cholesterol tested since my disastrous Egg Diet results (let's not think about it). That must change, but first I need to get back to healthy eating. The Blind Sword My next priority is to maintain my running ability. I've got to average 10K/week to meet my goal. I did run 5K today after a Christmas break so I'm off to a decent start. I may have done myself a disservice though by running an (unofficial) half marathon on Christmas Eve followed by a 10K four days later. I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone but me that my legs are still feeling it. The half marathon started as a simple stroll with my family which flowed into what I thought was a solo 5K but felt good and just went on and on and on. I never really tested how far I could run, so I suppose I was curious. Well, now I know why people train for such things. So my goal for January is to just get some simple miles in despite the cold weather and get back to basic running fitness. The Sleeping Phoenix Next up is arm strength. I'm gonna do 32 push ups in a row every day, starting today. This is WAY more push ups than I did in previous challenges. Why 32? Because I only work in powers of two, baby. The Ear That Sees Finally, I'm adding a stretch goal of stretching (see what I did there?) for 10 minutes following any run. I need to do something to regain some kind of flexibility, and I don't just mean not complaining when the kids want to eat at a dang Subway for the 10,000th time when I really want a plate of ninja-worthy hibachi. I used to train in karate and I miss the flexibility I once had. I doubt I could get it all back even if I did yoga full time, what with that being 20 years ago, but something is better than nothing and a little effort could go a long way So this will involve 10 minutes of my old karate stretches focusing on hamstrings, quads, and lower back. Bonus points of some kind for doing my lower back strengthening exercises. That is all.